Waxman-Markey Passes:
Job-killing Legislation Crafted by Men who Never Created a Job
Job-killing Legislation Crafted by Men who Never Created a Job
While my Congressman has, to his credit, never taken an earmark to benefit our district, he has also never held a job in the sector he so delights in regulating. He doesn’t understand how money is made, innovation fostered and jobs created. For over forty years, Henry Waxman has served in government, six years in the California Assembly in Sacramento before being elected to Congress in 1974.
Together with his Bay State colleague Ed Markey, who has spent nearly as long as his California elder in elective office (elected to the Massachusetts House just a year after graduating from law school), Waxman has crafted a bill (all in the interest of stopping “global warming”) which would regulate industries which have created the joband fostered the innovation which these two Democrats have created only in their minds and with their words. We’re talking about Cap & Trade.
They don’t understand how regulation hampers innovation. They don’t understand the burdens federal legislation places on those who generate the wealth which fuels our prosperity and which pays for these men’s government sinecures. Indifferent to openness, the transparency their party’s candidate for President touted on the campaign trail, they plop a 300-page amendment into the legislation in the wee hours of the morning, giving legislators less than a day to consider this lengthy addition before voting on it.
And they got eight Republicans to go along with this unexamined regulatory scheme when over forty (just about one for each year of Waxman’s legislative service) Democrats jumped ship. Couldn’t they at least have said while they’re open to this legislation, they didn’t want to vote on something they hadn’t had time to read and consider and discuss with their constituents? As Ricky Ricardo often said to Lucy, they’ve “got some ’splainin to do.”
The bad news is that these eight Republicans gave Waxman and Markey the votes they needed to pass their burdensome bill. The good news is that the President and the Democratic leadership couldn’t strong arm those forty-four representatives, more than one-sixth of their caucus. It’s a sign of the President’s diminishing clout and perhaps an indication that he won’t have any easy task ramming his health care “reforms” through.
In her piece on the vote (which I highly reommend), Jennifer Rubin points out the sheer folly of this legislation, noting that one reason Republicans voted overwhelmingly against the bill, “declaring it to be madness to vote for a huge tax, job-killing bill in a recession.“ Maybe my Congressman might have thought twice before introducing this legsilation if he had any experience creating jobs.
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Many of our elected leaders simply hate us; they loathe the great unwashed whom they see as dumb enough to keep their sorry butts in their lucrative “jobs”. It’s either that or they harbor a compulsion for total control over the unworthy masses.
How else to ’splain yet another legislative boondoggle that will further damage the country – all to mitigate a non-existent problem.
I’d like for some reporter to ask one of these parasites just how they justify voting for a monstrosity they’ve not read (and certainly don’t understand). Can you imagine anyone taking out a mortgage without reading it? (Oh, never mind.)
Given that this may well make it to the Messiah’s desk, I can’t wait to see it kick in so we can watch people bitch and complain about price inflation (there won’t be wage inflation to go along with it) and job losses as more businesses line up for plants and offices in China and India. Then we’ll be treated to Congressional show trials to grill evil energy companies about energy costs.
This, folks, is the cost of big (unconstitutional) government. Freakish charlatans like Waxman, with the consent of plentiful morons, can saddle the entire nation with stupid laws to appease the moonbat left and the morons that keep sending this old fraud to DC.
Term limits, anyone?
Comment by SoCalRobert — June 27, 2009 @ 3:27 pm - June 27, 2009
Well said. And to SoCalRobert, I agree that the “reforms” being considered and in this cap&trade bill are about CONTROL. The democrat party, in the guise of social welfare, wants to be the “decider” of how we all live. The government now decides which industries will survive & which will not, who will pay taxes and who will not, what we eat, what we drive, where we live, what medical procedures we need or don’t, who deserves financial assistance for their life decisions and who will not, what color are cars our……
This Orwellian nightmare was once social satire, but is rapidly becoming reality. The constitution of the United States is the antithesis of these ideas. We need to loudly proclaim our right to decide our own lives, because they are being stolen from us more rapidly every day this administration operates.
Comment by populiberpublic — June 27, 2009 @ 4:05 pm - June 27, 2009
I am about to move into Mary Bono Mack’s district and I sent her an email asking how she could vote for cap and trade especialy when 44 Democrats had the sense to vote against it. I also sent an email to her opponent in 2010 and asked how he would have voted had he already been in Congress. It will be interesting to see what they reply if they reply.
Comment by Not Always Right — June 27, 2009 @ 5:06 pm - June 27, 2009
#1: Well said, SoCalRobert. You’re right. Liberals (and apparently many Republicans as well) utterly reject the fact that they work for US. They believe their job is to use government power to implement what they think is best and if we disagree, well, they figure we will come around when we see the wonderful utopia they have created against our will. I don’t want ANYONE making these decisions for me (particularly how much of my paycheck I NEED to get by), much less a politician who is uniquely insulated from the devastating effects of the do-gooder laws they enact.
They barely make any attempt to conceal their belief that they are unrestrained by the will of their constituents because it can be easily detected in their speeches about the liberal causes of the day. The best example is when they discuss the Fairness Doctrine. We’ve all heard them defend it by asking “what could be wrong with ensuring that the public hears both sides of the issue before they make up their minds?” and “talk radio has resulted in the public being misinformed because they are only hearing one side of the debate.” What they are really saying (and what they really believe) is that conservative beliefs are illegitimate and wrong and the only reason one would agree with conservative ideas is because they are “misinformed” and haven’t heard “both sides.” Either we agree with them, or we should, and if we don’t, then we will, once we have been forced to listen to liberal propaganda. They categorically reject the idea that anyone could actually listen to both sides with an open mind and CHOOSE conservative beliefs over liberal ones. Choosing to be a conservative presumptively establishes that we are uninformed and just haven’t been exposed to their point of view (or that we don’t understand it).
Comment by Sean A — June 27, 2009 @ 5:21 pm - June 27, 2009
#2: “I am about to move into Mary Bono Mack’s district and I sent her an email asking how she could vote for cap and trade especialy when 44 Democrats had the sense to vote against it.”
You might also want to ask Bono how she can justify voting for cap-and-trade when unemployment in her home state is over 11% and employers are bailing out of California as if it were a firey, nose-diving 747.
Comment by Sean A — June 27, 2009 @ 5:26 pm - June 27, 2009
Thanks, Sean A.
Bono’s district includes Palm Springs (limousine libs & wealthy retirees) in Riverside County.
The non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Riverside County, based on preliminary estimates, was 13.1 percent last month. That’s just shy of the 13.3 percent level recorded in March, which was the highest rate since August 1993 when unemployment reached 13.5 percent, according to the California Economic Development Department
http://www.myvalleynews.com/story/38733/
Comment by SoCalRobert — June 27, 2009 @ 6:34 pm - June 27, 2009
Thanks, Robert. Actually, those statistics make Rep. Bono’s vote all the more revolting. I’m very familiar with the area and while Palm Springs (and the surrounding communities like Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, La Quinta, etc.) are populated with affluent retirees and rich gays with second homes, Riverside County as a whole has more than its share of economically-depressed, roadside ghettos that are heavily-populated with the poor and criminals (lots of drug dealers and illegals out in the desert). In fact, a few years ago, the Indio courthouse was forced to suspend all civil cases on its docket for 90 days so that all of the judges could be used to process their backlog of criminal cases (I’ve NEVER heard of any other court in California having to do this).
Palm Springs went through an interesting political transformation in 2003. For decades, the City Council had been controlled by heterosexual senior citizens and they were not pleased with all of the growth the City was seeing with the gay invasion. In fact, they were trying to stop the White Party from coming back every year based on moral grounds (despite the fact that the event brings MILLIONS to the City and its businesses). And it wasn’t just the gays that the old-timers were against. They also wanted to stop big retailers like Wal-Mart from building giant superstores in the area to preserve the City’s quaint, small-town character.
Well, in 2003, several openly gay candidates ran for City Council on, believe it or not, a pro-business platform, and 2 or 3 of them got elected. The balance of power completely shifted and the old-timers that were trying to restrict economic growth were shown the door, which I think was a good thing, provided that the pro-business, pro-tourism message of the gay candidates continues to be implemented. Mary Bono has had a front-row seat to observe how well this worked, at least in her district. Again, this makes her vote for cap-and-trade all the more inexplicable.
Comment by Sean A — June 27, 2009 @ 7:28 pm - June 27, 2009
Not Always Right, I’d be interested in Bonos’ opponent’s response. As soon as I heard the results, I send her an email telling her that I would do anything to help defeat her in 2010.
Here I am calling my Dem Representative telling him not to vote for Capntax, and the Republican votes for it.
Comment by Leah — June 27, 2009 @ 7:39 pm - June 27, 2009
It’s time for another aggressive push for term limits. The founding fathers NEVER intended being in Congress to be a career. It was supposed to be a public service that the best and brightest performed AFTER distinguishing themselves in some other field in the private sector. Now, that plan has been turned upside-down with Congress being jam-packed for decades with the WORST and DIMMEST career politicians. These worthless individuals couldn’t turn a profit running an all-night taco stand located on a street with 50 bars and nightclubs frequented by college students and spring-breakers, but they are making economically-lethal decisions for the PRODUCERS in our society. It’s totally unacceptable. Perhaps the new litmus test for a Republican candidate should be an unequivocal commitment to a Constitutional amendment ensuring that he will lose his job after at most two terms, regardless of performance. If the candidate is not in favor of term-limits applicable to his or her own stay in Congress, it’s a red-flag that we are dealing with a RINO who, despite what he or she may say about “the people,” really DOESN’T GET IT.
This is also conclusive evidence that all of the idiots who are going on the Sunday shows talking about how the Republican Party needs to be more “moderate” (liberal) to win elections are full of it and are destroying the GOP from the inside. Clearly, “moderate” means “will vote for industry-killing legislation that does nothing but feed the politician’s narcissism.” I have no doubt that this would be preferable to the talking heads in the MSM, but I refuse to go along with it.
Comment by Sean A — June 27, 2009 @ 8:17 pm - June 27, 2009
Maybe your Congressman might have thought twice before introducing this legislation if he had any experience LOSING a job….
Comment by Angie — June 27, 2009 @ 10:39 pm - June 27, 2009
Sean A- thanks for the background info on the Palm Springs area….that is good to know.
Leah – I will certainly let you know what reply, if any, I get from both Bono Mack and her opponent.
Bob
Comment by Not Always Right — June 28, 2009 @ 12:59 am - June 28, 2009
Sean A,
Your comments in #7 about Palm Springs are very interesting. I suspect that Mary Bono’s vote was bought. Perhaps she was given some big residuals for her district in the Crap and Tax legislation. If so, the Democrats knew what would make her bite and that means they knew she was for sale and how to buy her.
Comment by heliotrope — June 28, 2009 @ 10:37 am - June 28, 2009
You guys just don’t get it, do you?
Baby polar bears are DYING!!!!!
http://tinyurl.com/mv8rbj
Comment by Draybee — June 28, 2009 @ 1:40 pm - June 28, 2009
#13: good link… that wouldn’t be the only “scientific” conference where heretics were banned.
The whole climate change, nee global warming, circus has all the hallmarks of a religion (without the good parts).
Comment by SoCalRobert — June 28, 2009 @ 3:14 pm - June 28, 2009
the sky is falling, the sky is falling….
Term limits would be an excellent way to clean house.
Comment by a different Dave — June 28, 2009 @ 4:58 pm - June 28, 2009
I’m not so sure that term-limits are the answer. We have them here in California…and look how well that’s going.
Comment by Draybee — June 28, 2009 @ 5:07 pm - June 28, 2009
#16: Point taken, Draybee. Yes, even with term limits, the California Assembly and Senate remains lousy with the most useless, villainous commies in the Western Hemisphere. However, thankfully, it is not the nature of state politics for us to see our tragically unattractive “representatives” on television or on the Internet on a daily basis. In contrast, I find myself seeing, for example, the Crypt Keeper (Reid), either on the news or on the Web almost every day telling the usual lies and committing the same atrocities. So, yes, even if Nancy Pelosi were “termed out,” the stump of that hydra’s head would most assuredly regenerate another equally vile medusa (with an entourage of flying monkeys) to preside over that munchkinland by the bay.
HOWEVER, the one thing that would make the fight for federal term limits worth it is the fact that after Pelosi climbs on her broomstick and flies home from DC for the last time, the next day I will be able to turn on the news and FOR ONCE not find myself being assaulted by Madame Speaker’s back-alley-Tijuana face work. Who’s with me?!
Comment by Sean A — June 28, 2009 @ 6:56 pm - June 28, 2009
I love the idea of term limits but I don’t know if that will solve the problem (Sean’s hydra). The electorate is (at best) stunningly ignorant.
I had a short conversation with a guy at work on Friday (engineer – smart) but he didn’t see any problem with cap ‘n’ trade… he thinks it’s fair that those who “pollute” should compensate those who don’t.
It never occurred to him (and he won’t consider) that CO2 isn’t a pollutants given the amounts we’re talking about nor does it occur to him that the cost of this legislation will far exceed any potential benefit.
It seem to occur to the libs I talk to that actual living people will actually have to pay for this one way or another. It’s hard to do talk to these people without getting offensive and I need the job. For some reason they think that evil polluters will have to pay and that they don’t have anything to do with the demand side. As if coal-fired electric plants operate to satisfy a Mr. Burns’ nefarious desires to ruin the planet.
Comment by SoCalRobert — June 28, 2009 @ 8:21 pm - June 28, 2009
I wanted to give everyone the links to a couple of columns written by Clyde Middleton of the Philadelphia Conservative Examiner who is writing a series of “Profiles In Cowardice” regarding each of the eight Republican Representatives that voted in favor of cap and trade. So far, he’s covered Mary Bono Mack (CA) and Mike Castle (DE). The profiles are hilarious but also troubling because by examining information such as their biggest contributors, their ratings from various interest groups, and their votes on key legislation, they reveal that these losers were obviously back-stabbing turncoats and that the evidence of it was there all along. For example, Rep. Castle: National Taxpayers Union–D; National Rifle Association–F; Gun Owners of America–F MINUS; National Education Association–A; Planned Parenthood–75 (out of 100); National Right to Life Committee–ZERO (out of 100). Also, he voted for the 2007 Resolution “expressing disagreement” with the troop surge in Iraq! Plus, his biggest campaign contributor in 2008 (10%) was a law firm specializing in CORPORATE BANKRUPTCY! (No wonder he’s in favor of cap and trade!)
And this guy calls himself a Republican?! Obviously, the lesson to be learned here is that in Congress, it’s no longer a numbers game just counting Rs and Ds. If an R has an “A” rating from the NEA and an F MINUS from a gun rights organization, that’s a red flag that they might be one of Pelosi’s obedient flying monkeys that we can expect to vote for even the most repugnant legislation that the Wicked Witch of the West could conjure up. So, until someone drops a house (or preferably, the Pentagon) on Pelosi’s head, we need to be aware that she is not above accosting these weak RINOs and handing out more of our money in the form of earmarks to get what she wants. I wish I could get the more principled Republican members of the House to show up for votes armed with buckets of water.
http://www.examiner.com/x-3132-Philadelphia-Conservative-Examiner~y2009m6d28-Profiles-in-Cowardice-Rep-Mike-Castle-DE
http://www.examiner.com/x-3132-Philadelphia-Conservative-Examiner~y2009m6d27-Profiles-in-Cowardice-Mary-Bono-Mack
Comment by Sean A — June 29, 2009 @ 4:16 am - June 29, 2009
Sean A – thank you for posting the link that covers May Bono Mack. I am about to move to her district and your information further strengthens my intention to work for her defeat at the polls in 2010.
Comment by Not Always Right — June 29, 2009 @ 9:37 am - June 29, 2009
Here’s another great piece on the cap and trade bill and the double standard Obama is applying to the Republicans who voted against it and the Democrats who also voted against it:
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/71702
Obama says the defecting Dems voted against the bill because of the “uncertainty around the issue” and the fact that they represent districts that rely heavily on coal for power generation. Thus, he says “they’ve got to run every two years” and he “completely understands that.”
BUT, when it comes to Republicans who voted against the bill, Obama says they are “16 years behind the times,” and that they are “fear mongering” and “scaring the bejesus out of people” by warning of huge energy cost increases.
Typical. Obama is useless garbage.
Comment by Sean A — June 29, 2009 @ 11:09 am - June 29, 2009
1 in 6 US refineries to close by 2020 under Cap and Tax. This must be what Dear Leader means by “It’s a jobs bill.”
Comment by V the K — June 29, 2009 @ 9:27 pm - June 29, 2009
Wasn’t it Obamateleprompter himself that predicted his cap and trade would put the coal fired electric plants out of business?
The Obama severe recession depression has a record 6.9 million people out of work. Another 3 million who have given up entirely. So why would we believe him on anything?
Comment by Gene in Pennsylvania — June 29, 2009 @ 11:27 pm - June 29, 2009
This is totally about control (communism-lite) and transfer of wealth from the peon idiots who work for a living (us) to those whom the powerful want to control through handouts and garner votes from (illegals, minorities, etc); as well as the sick incestuous relationship of Wall Street and DC. Go on the H of R site and download the list of organizations and companies who support this rape of liberties. Look at Goldman Sachs who will run the market for trading carbon credits. Look at fathead Al Gore will all his investments in “green” companies which stand to become hugely important should this become law. It sickens me to my core. I have noticed that people are beginning to wake up. I see it in the comments online. They see Obama for the Marxist he is. There is vigilance. It gives me some hope. Helen Thomas who I usually find distasteful finally stood up to Obama’s Chavezian control of information the other day. Now if they would all stop laying on their beds and daydreaming about doing it with BO like a school girl and do their jobs we might get some traction.
Comment by Pete in Hawaii — July 3, 2009 @ 8:56 pm - July 3, 2009